Maho Shoujo Ranma
by Michael The-Zorch Haney
Summary: An accident into another world thrusts Saotome Ranma into a strange new reality where only girls can use magic but its discovered he's the only exception. Will feature a cast of dozens of crossover characters from Anime, TV, games, and more. Rated for l
1. Chapter 1

_The follow story is a work of fan fiction using characters that are copyrighted and/or trademarked. The purpose of this story is for fan enjoyment only free of charge. All original content is protected by Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License._

**oOOOo**

**Michael "TheZorch" Haney's**

"**Maho Shoujo Ranma"**

**oOOOo**

Visit Zorch Central for News, Reader Blogs, and Podcasts.

See my author profile for the URL.

**oOOOo**

**Chapter One**

"**Another World"**

"Magnetic diameter readings are nominal."

"Phase variants are within expected parameters."

"Primary capacitors reaching maximum charge. Neutrino output has increased forty percent and is climbing."

"Magnetic fluctuations reaching critical mass. Primary coolant system reading temperature of one hundred seventy degrees and remaining stable."

"Simulation projections show the system will achieve singularity in approximately twenty-two point eight seconds."

"Gravity waves detected, point two-three-six gravitons and rising."

"Confirmed! Laser spacial distortion detector are reading a deviance of point one-eight of a percent."

"Lowering protective shield doors. Protective wards are in place."

"Magnetic diameter showing abnormal readings!"

"Gravitons rising to three point eight-six-two-nine!"

"Laser spacial distortion detector reading nine-three point one-four percent!"

"We have singularity! I repeat we have singularity!"

"Confirmed! Neutrino output is ninety-nine point three-eight-four-seven!"

"Picking up anomalous readings."

"Getting unusual graviton wave patterns!"

"The magnetic bottle is fluctuating! Stability down to seventy-five percent!"

"What was that flash!?"

"Infrared detecting something in the test chamber!"

"I feel it, its alive! I ... I think its human, unconscious though!"

"We're loosing containment!"

"Detecting immensely elevated levels of chaos energy!"

"Where is it coming from?"

"From inside the test chamber!"

"Magnetic containment dropping to ten percent! We're loosing it!"

"Stop the experiment, power down all systems!"

"We can't, nothing is responding!"

"Evacuate the lab, NOW!"

"OH MY KAMI-SAMA, WE JUST LOST CONTAINMENT!"

BOOOMMM!!!

**oOOOo**

Tanaka Kojiro rubbed his temples, he was beginning to develop a rather nasty headache. The dean of the school appointed him to investigate what went wrong with an experiment in the university's quantum research lab. He looked around at what was left of testing lab two. The place was a mess, it would take maintenance at least a month to get the place operational again. The grand experiment itself was now off to one side in an area that had been cleared of debris. It had at one time looked like a large ring or donut, but right now it resembled what could be described as a molten pretzel. Even now twelve hours after the explosion, which shattered windows for a mile around campus, the thing was still hot.

"Are you sure? There's no data at all about what went wrong?" he asked one of the people looking the ruined device over.

"No sir, the EMP from the containment field rupture shorted out all of the computers and erased all of the hard drives." a young male student replied. He was waving a Geiger counter over the ruined machine and taking notes of the readings.

"What about backups?" he asked.

The student shook his head and said, "The only backups are from last night. The systems does automatic backups every night at midnight to the main server, its EMP shielded which is why the whole school network didn't crash when this thing went up."

"What ... what about Sakumari-sensei? Is he going to be alright?" another young male student asked.

"He suffered second degree burns to his right side, but the healers say he should be back on his feet by tomorrow." Kojiro replied. Sakumari-sensei was a popular teacher among the boys, he didn't talk down to them like the other sensei did. The loyalty of Sakumari-sensei's students was the subject of much envy among the university staff.

Kojiro looked through the paperwork he had in his hand and said, "You said that before the blast that you detected chaos energy."

The first student nodded and replied, "Hai, right after who ever he is came through the singularity."

"Are you certain that's where he came from?" Kojiro asked.

"The blast doors were closed shut, there's no other way in there." the student replied.

The second student asked, "By the way, Tanaka-sensei, where is that guy anyway?"

"When the prime minister's office got word of his unusual origins they sent a representative to the university hospital and had him transferred to Tokyo General under their custody." Kojiro answered.

"If he came through the singularity that would mean he's ... a Traverser." the first student said in awe.

"We don't know that for certain, and until its determined that he is please don't start spreading around rumors." Kojiro said scolding him.

"Hai, Tanaka-sensei!" the two student replied together.

**oOOOo**

"His vital signs are stable. Frankly it is a miracle that he is even alive."

Dr. Shiritori Misato, head healer for Tokyo General, looked down at her unconscious patient. Her patient was a he, a very unusual he. He was human, again a very unusual human. But, he was very cute at least.

Rushimoru Ami, representative of the Prime Minister's office looked at the young man with great curiosity. "If the accident report at Tokyo Magitech University is correct then this boy could be a Traverser." she said.

Dr. Shiritori help up a chart and said, "He has an usually high level of chaos magic surrounding him. It appears to be directly linked to his essence."

"Can you sever the link and dissipate the energy?" Ami asked her.

Dr. Shiritori shook her head. "No, the link is too complex. The complexity of the energy patterns are totally beyond my experience. I wouldn't know where to begin."

"How long until he regains consciousnesses?" Ami asked the doctor.

"Believe it or not, most of his wounds were already half way healed on their own when we got him from the university hospital. His body is so super infused with ki that its constantly regenerating and reinvigorating itself at an unheard of rate." Dr. Shiritori explained in an awed tone.

Ami looked at the young patient with awe and asked, "Have you ever seen this kind of thing before, doctor?"

Dr. Shiritori shook her head and answered, "No, never in my entire career have I ever seen this before. Any leads on who he is?"

Ami shook her head this time. "We tried astral pattern matching, DNA matching, scrying and got nothing." she said.

"So, this is what a Traverser looks like." Dr. Shiritori said with a curious smile. "He is kind of cute."

Ami laughed, "And most likely only sixteen years old, assuming the people from his universe age the same way we do."

"Well, he's perfectly human. I can attest to that one hundred percent." Dr. Shiritori replied.

Ami looked at her with surprise. "Nani?"

"Other than the unusually high concentration of ki and the chaos energy surrounding him he's pretty much a normal human male. Well, a very physically fit human male, probably a martial artist from the looks of him." Dr. Shiritori explained. The boy had been dressed in a red silk shirt and a pair of baggy black pants. They were pretty much ruined in the explosion.

"He has no tattoos." Ami said looking at the boy's bare and rather well muscled arms.

"He isn't a Magitech if that's what you're wondering." Dr. Shiritori replied with a smile.

"Yet, he's surrounded by chaos magic." Ami said puzzled by the enigma of this young man.

Dr. Shiritori pursed her lips and said, "Yeah, that's the puzzler in all of this. Boys can't use magic without Magitech enhancement, and they are limited to only the magic of the runes tattooed on their bodies. This boy is saturated in magic yet has no rune tattoos on him at all."

"I have to report all of this to madam prime minster. Please call me if his condition changes or if he wakes up." Ami said as she left the room. Dr. Shiritori looked over the young man laying on the examination table and then over at the complex Magitech devices monitoring his vitals.

"Who are you? And why do I get this feeling that your arrival here will change everything?" she whispered in thought.

**oOOOo**

"Where am I?"

Saotome Ranma tried to sit up but he was so weak. He'd never felt this weak before, not even when the old freak had used the strength sapping Mokibustion on him. He could barely move. Ranma tried to open his eyes and immediately regretted it. The glare from above was blinding and made a dull ache form in the back of his head.

"Dim the lights, please." he heard someone say. A woman's voice?

"Can you hear me?" the same woman's voice asked.

"W ... w ... were ..." was all he could get out. It was such a struggle to day anything. What the hell happened? What the hell hit him? The last thing he could remember was arguing with Akane and then ... nothing but blinding white light.

"You're in Tokyo General Hospital. I'm Dr. Shiritori, your healer. How do you feel?" the woman asked him.

"W ... we ... weak." he replied, barely. The hospital!? Oh man, the tomboy really musta worked me over good. But, I can't remember her hitting me.

"I'm not surprised, considering what you've been through." Dr. Shiritori said. Would be nice if I knew what that was., Ranma thought to himself.

He felt a pair of hands lift him up from the shoulders and soon he was sitting up. He felt something against his lips, it felt like ... yes ... it felt like a glass or cup. "Drink this, it will help." Dr. Shiritori told him.

Ranma never had any reason to distrust doctors because of his experience with Dr. Tofu. He did his best to drink the liquid. It tasted like demon bile, if in fact that's what demon bile tasted like, but he swallowed it anyway. Almost immediately he started to feel strength returning to his extremities. Pretty soon his hands were up and holding the glass on their own as he downed the last of the nauseating brew.

"That was a fast reaction, normally that potion takes a while to take effect." Dr. Shiritori commented and took some notes down on her notepad. Ranma looked up at his doctor and was taken aback by just how strikingly gorgeous she was. She didn't look like any of his iinazuke, but she was just as pretty. Not that it really mattered to him anyway, he wasn't ready to get married to anything and he was still in training.

"Can you tell me your name?" she asked him.

"Ranma, Saotome Ranma." he replied.

Wild stallion, eh? Well, his parents certainly named him appropriately. Dr. Shiritori blushed when she realized what she was thinking and recovered as quickly as she could. Damn she needed to get laid. She hoped the boy didn't have telepathic abilities where he came from. She's been without a man for way too long.

"How do you feel now?" she asked him.

"A lot better, but this stuff tastes awful." he said handing her the glass. Man, and I thought Akane was the only one who could make a noxious brew.

"Well, if it didn't taste like shit it wouldn't be good for you." the doctor replied with a laugh. "That's a little professional humor, cheer up."

Ranma looked around the stark white room and asked, "Has oyagi or anyone from the Tendo Dojo been here to see me?"

The doctor didn't quite know how to answer that one. "Well, you see, about that..." she began but was interrupted by a knock on the door. It opened to reveal Rushimoru Ami and one of the nurses.

"Ah, you're right on time Rushimoru-san. He just woke up," Dr. Shiritori smiled.

"Ara. That's good to hear." Ami said as she walked in. Ranma turned to regard her and nearly fell off the bed. Though she was clearly older than him, perhaps as old as his mom, there was no way he could be mistaken.

"Kasumi?" he asked in an almost helpless tone.

"Uh, that was my mother's name," Ami said in reply looking at him and the doctor rather puzzled.

"Your mother? What's going on? What happened to me?" Ranma began demanding and leapt off the bed. He immediately began to fall flat on his face, but then something incredible happened. He felt an invisible force grab him and carry him back to the bed. When he looked up his doctor was making strange gestures with her hands and mumbling under her breath.

"I wouldn't try to stand up for at least a day, Saotome-san." the doctor told him when she was done.

"How did you do that?" he asked her in awe, his curiosity was beginning to overcome his earlier apprehension.

Ami walked over and sat down on the bed next to him. "There is much to learn, and that is why I'm here. I am Rushimoru Ami from the prime minister's office, but you can call me Ami-san if you like." she said with a friendly smile.

"Prime minister's office?" he asked and wondered what sort of trouble his father got him into this time. "Ok, what did oyagi do this time?"

Ami looked up at the doctor and said, "Ranma, do you remember anything before waking up here in the hospital?" Dr. Shiritori asked him.

Ranma shook his head. "No, its pretty blurry. All I remember is Akane yelling at me for some reason, as if she usually has one, and then there was this bright flash of light and then I'm here in this bed."

"Hmmm." the doctor said while taking notes.

"Thing hard Ranma-san, try to remember what exactly happened at the moment just before you woke up here." Ami said encouragingly.

Ranma strained for a moment to look inward. Getting nowhere that way he reached within and call forth the Soul of Ice. Ami felt a wave of chill air coming from the teenager and stood up suddenly. The doctor looked at them in surprise and began to mutter a few words and wave her hands towards Ranma once again.

"Incredible." Dr. Shiritori gasped when she realized what the boy was doing.

"Akane was yelling at me. I got chased by Shampoo again and she thought I was cheating on her, but I wasn't." he said in an emotionless tone.

"She was about to slap me cause she thought I was lying, but then she screamed. There was a bright flash of light and a whole lot of heat and this really loud boom." he continued. "I'm moving, the house is blown away by something powerful, I can't see it, and I'm moving down what's like some tunnel. Pain, its hurts, it hurts so much. I hear yelling and alarms, and ... I can't remember any more than that."

Ami looks to the doctor with a horror stricken expression. "That's enough Ranma. Don't force yourself." the doctor said calmly though inside she was felt terrified. She let out a breath and could see the moisture condense into a mist like in winter time.

"What happened by my family, to the Tendo's? Where am I!?" he demanded. Ki rushed through his system this time and when he stood he was able to stay on his feet. The agonized look on the boy's face almost brought the two women to tears.

"Ranma, you were found at the site of an accident at a local university," Ami explained. "It was a research lab."

He sat down. Something deep inside told him he wasn't going to like this. "Nani?" he gasped.

"They were experimenting with artificial black holes for generating power." Ami continued. "There was an accident and you were found in the test chamber afterwards severely burned and suffering from radiation exposure."

He only understood some of what she said. Black holes were something he heard about in school and what little he understood hold him they were bad news. So was radiation. "Where ... am ... I?" he asked them slowly in a tone told them he wouldn't accept any other response.

"It is of the opinion that you are a Traverser," the doctor told him. "A person who either intentionally or unintentionally travels from one universe to another."

He looked at her in disbelief, but the gravity of his own blurred memories and his current situation made him believe. "Another universe." he said turning away and looked down at his hands.

"Worse of all, the computers used in the experiment were destroyed. There is no data at all on how this happened and so returning you home is pretty much impossible." Ami explained in a sad voice. She wasn't sure how else they could have broke it to the boy. There really wasn't any way to really sugar coat it for him.

"Then I'm alone here. I ain't got no family here." he said forlornly.

"Gomen-neiisai," Ami replied and put a hand on his shoulder. "Gomen-neiisai Ranma-san."

**oOOOo**

Three weeks went by. They seemed to take forever. Dr. Shiritori gave him a good bill of health and he was allowed to leave the hospital. Ami drove him to a clerk's office where he was given paperwork to sign, apparently he wasn't the first inter-dimensional traveler to come here, and was issued a photo ID card for himself. It was during this time that he found out he was in Japan, but it was a very different Japan. Tokyo had always been a modern city but what he saw while riding in Ami's car was incredible. Tokyo was a gleaming city of silver towers, rail cars that hung underneath their tracks criss-crossed the city, and there were even "flying cars". He was being assigned a government paid apartment until he was able to get situated here in this world and able to live on his own. The apartment was in a slightly less built-up region of the city but still no less impressive looking. Ami spoke with the landlord of the apartment in the living room while Ranma went to the balcony to look out the scenery. Next door there was a building under construction, but it was a very different sort of construction site than what he was used to seeing. There were no cranes, just a few large pieces of equipment, but there was no shortage of manpower.

"Attention, clear the area! Lifting is about to begin!" came a shout over a loud speaker. It was a man's voice. With is keen vision Ranma could see a man carrying a long tube walk out in to the middle of the construction yard. In front of him was a pile of metal I beams. He raised the tube and did something with it. Suddenly a faint blue light emitted from the tube and surrounded the steel beams. With just a little excursion the man began tilting the tube upwards and the metal beams rose into the air.

"No way!" Ranma gasped in surprise. "That's cool!"

The stack of I beams rose higher and higher into the air then the man holding the tube began to move them towards a towering structure across the street that was only half built. Ranma watched in fascination, maybe, he thought to himself, he was going to like it here after all. That was when he heard the giggling.

"Sasami-chan! Sasami-chan! We're going to be so late!"

He turned and looked down at the street but saw nobody. His instincts told him to look up and he boggled at what he saw. A young girl, may only ten or twelve years old, with long dark hair and wearing what looked like a girl's school uniform flew by rising on ... a broom?

"Misao-chan! Wait for me!" came a reply. Not far behind the young girl on a broom was another one, like the first girl she was at least ten years old with long blue hair done up two long pony tails. Like the other girl she was pretty cute for her age and was smiling brightly. She too was dressed like a school girl and riding a broom.

"We're going to be late for Chiyo-chan's party! Come on, Sasami-chan!" the girl named Misao shouted back at the girl named Sasami.

For some reason Ranma's danger sense went to Defcon 1 when they shot past him. His eyes shot to the man working that strange tube and immediately knew he was having trouble. The man was messing with some controls on the tube and yelling something he couldn't hear to one of the foremen. The faint blue beam was wavering and flickering, then suddenly it gave out altogether. Ranma heard the sound of several hundred tons of I beams clanging against one another as they fell. Then he heard the screams! The girls! Without thinking, his instinct taking command, he jumped up onto the railing and leapt into the air! His fight intercepted the two girls and he yanked them both off their brooms and into his arms. They were five stories up but that was nothing for Saotome Ranma. When they landed he started running in the opposite direction but he knew, somehow he knew, they wouldn't get out from under the lethal rain of steel from above. The shadow of the falling beams covered them and the girls cried and buried their faces into his chest. Ranma stopped, huddled over the girls to protect them and hoped that in giving up his life he might save them. In that instant he felt something come to life within him. He felt a strength, a power unlike anything he'd ever felt before. His entire body tingled in a manner similar to when his curse triggered but he was still a "he". Instinctively he raised his hands and called that power forth. It rushed out of him like a geyser surprising him so much that he screamed from its intensity. Ami and the landlord rushed to the balcony in time to see Ranma far blow and the falling beams. Ami screamed then shielded her eyes as an immense blast came from below. The air was filled with a loud deafening explosion that nearly knocked everyone nearby off their feet and blasted them with intense heat.

Sasami and Misao opened their eyes after several seconds. The handsome young boy who just tried to save them had been standing over them, but now he was falling flat on his back. Sasami put her hands on his chest in concern wondering what was wrong when she heard the loud sound of metal hitting the ground. Chunks of shattered, partially melted steel glowing bright red fell around them, but all of the heavy beams that had been above them were just gone. A wave of intense heat hit them from above and the wind howled as superheated air higher up rushed in every direction. The metal broke up the sidewalk and eventually hit a water main. Water sprayed up everywhere drenching the girls. When Sasami looked back at the boy who saved them he was gone and in his place was a very pretty young teenage girl. People on the street and in the construction yard who witnessed what happened all started running towards them to see if they needed help. In the distance came the shrill cry of an ambulance.

"Oh ... my ... kami-sama." was all Ami said before running for the stairs.

**oOOOo**

To say that billionairess Masaki Misaki was pissed off, which seemed to be her normal state of being, was an understatement. Rushimoru Ami stood not far from her showing no fear whatsoever. She'd seen the fiery Masaki in one of her rages before and this one time was no different, except this time Misaki could do nothing.

"Never! I will never accept this!" Misaki cried and pounded her fists on the desk in front of her. "I am a member of the Board of Regents and I will not allow this!"

Someone across the room cleared their throat and said, "According to the school charter Masaki-san, the Board of Regents and its members have no say whatsoever in issues concerning student admissions and school curriculum. That is the domain of the head mistress and her staff." The one who spoke was a short woman who like like she might be around twelve years old, but looks could be deceiving. Her wild red hair went in every direction framing her face. It almost looked like the visage of a crab or lobster.

"Washu-sensei spoke correctly. You don't have a say in this decision." Ami added with a self-congratulatory smile.

"The Board of Regents are responsible for handling the financial business side for the school and nothing more. In fact, considering this, why are you here anyway since this doesn't really concern you?" asked another woman lounging in a plush chair. She was beautiful and extremely well endowed, her dress barely contained her assets. Her hair was black and hung down the back of the chair.

"Shut up you! If I want your opinion I'll squeeze them out of those silicon balloons of yours!" Misaki snarled at her.

The women she just offended produced a globe of darkness in her hand and started stand up with an angry expression. "Naga-sensei!" someone else shouted her name and she immediately sat back down and dispelled the orb.

"Head mistress, please be reasonable, you can't go along with this idea. Its ludicrous!" Misaki said to the woman at the desk who had just reined Naga in. She was also beautiful, almost ethereal, with long blue hair that hung down her back as long pony tails. Upon her forehead was a marking composed of two dots.

"We've confirmed the findings at least five times already." Ami said with a sigh.

"BOYS CANNOT USE MAGIC!" Misaki yelled at her.

"This one can," said the woman at the desk. "And I agree with madam prime minister's plan to have him enrolled at our school."

"I don't care if he's some Traverser with magical powers, he's a boy and this is a girl's school!" Misaki retorted. Masaki Misaki's prejudice against men were well known. It had gotten her into trouble in the past and so far she hadn't learned from those mistakes.

"Again, you don't have a say in this Misaki, get over yourself. Ohohohohohohoho!" Naga sighed with a laugh making Misaki cringe.

"He vaporized fifteen tons of metal and unleashed a blast equivalent to twelve Hiroshima bombs all at once. It is too dangerous to let him loose in society without formal training to control that power. He himself isn't a danger, from what I hear from Ami-san he's quite a nice young man." Washu said.

Misaki threw up her hands and said, "I can't believe this! Furinken Academy has been an all girl's school for six hundred years!"

"You may hate men, Misaki, but that doesn't mean we have to put up with your attitude." Naga retorted.

"Besides, he discovered his ability to use magic trying to save two of our students." Washu explained.

The woman at the desk smiled and said, "Oh yes. Poor little Sasami and Misao were so very distraught when he was taken away to the hospital. He saved their lives."

"Well, he did do that. But ..." Misaki tried to retort but there she couldn't come up with a good enough argument.

"For centuries there has been a major rift between the sexes because only girls could use magic and not boys. The Magitech process helped to alleviate that a bit but its effectiveness is limited. The process of drawing magic runes on the human body is a physically and mentally demanding process and not every young man survives it." Washu explained. "If we can find out what is so different about this boy we might be able to make it so all boys can learn to use magic just like girls."

Misaki gaped at her in disbelief. "Make men equal to women? Is that what this is about!?" she shouted.

"Not just that. Its about putting the world back into balance, baka!" Naga told her in an irritated tone.

"Ever since the Great War a thousand years ago the feminine and masculine furies of the Earth have been out of balance. It is written in the ancient texts that once men and women were able to use magic equally." the head mistress explained.

Misaki turned on her and exclaimed, "They lost that power because men grew greedy! They tapped into powers no mortal was meant to control!"

The head mistress nodded and replied, "Some acted in greed yes, but most did it to save humanity from the Thrawl. Yes, they tapped into powers never meant to be used by mortals but they did it to save the future of our race."

"For the past thirty years census reports have been painting a disturbing picture. Fewer and fewer boys are being born with each successive generation." Ami explained.

Washu then said, "Its our belief that the imbalance in the furies is the cause of this. It is also our belief that Ranma is the key to solving this problem somehow. This is an opportunity we cannot pass up."

"The UN department of world health estimates that the male population of the earth will drop below what is necessary to maintain a viable gene pool in less than eighty years." Ami said to Misaki. Misaki blanched at this info and quickly sat down in an empty chair. Despite how she felt about men she knew that the race didn't stand a chance of surviving without them. Cloning, even magical cloning, was still an inexact science.

Ami look to the head mistress and said, "Ranma is recovering in the hospital. Dr. Shiritori says he should be able to leave tomorrow, head mistress Tsunami."

Tsunami stood up from her desk. She was dressed in a traditional kimono and was often seen walking around campus in it. The student all loved her, she was a fair disciplinarian, and treated her students with loving kindness and understanding. Tsunami was respected around the world and was often visited by dignitaries from around the world. Because of her leadership Furinken Academy was not only the top school of magic in Japan but the top most recognized school of magic in the entire world.

"There's more, I shouldn't really say this, but ... we're been hearing scattered reports of Thrawl sightings in the North American wastelands." Ami said.

Washu replied, "I'm not surprised. According to the ancient accounts of the war its believed that a few Thrawl did survive the destruction, and considering the fact that they're A sexual ... well you put two and two together."

Tsunami looked at Misaki and said, "So you see, this more than just admitting a boy to Furinken Academy. The fact of our world may be in that young man's hands."

**oOOOo**

Sometime after Misaki had dismissed herself from Tsunami's office the remaining women looked at one another. The gravity of what they had just discussed was still weighing heavily upon them. Ami was the first to speak up.

"Do you think maybe we should have told her about his curse?" Ami asked them.

Naga laughed and shook her head. "Not a chance. If you think this pissed her off, learning about a boy that can turn into a girl would have sent her into orbit." she replied laughing.

"Its bad enough Ayeka attends this school and is the senior class president," Washu said. "She's exactly like her mother, a boy hater and grade A certified mega-bitch."

Naga laughed and said, "Oh, but Ranma will be very popular with the Cutie Squad."

Tsunami sighed, "Who came up with that ridiculous name for them?"

"I think it was that clumsy Usagi girl from the Sailor Senshi ROTC." Naga surmised.

Tsunami walked around the desk and said, "We have much to do. Ranma will be enrolled here tomorrow and we all know its going to be a very long day indeed."

"No duh! At least madam prime minster had the foresight to keep his existence a secret from the media." Washu said with a nod towards Ami.

Naga stretched alluringly before getting up. "Well, I guess we're done for today. I hope this Ranma is as cute as I've heard he is." she said.

Ami smiled and replied with a blush, "Naga-sensei, you will not be disappointed."

**oOOOo**

**To be continued ...**

**Author's Notes**

This story is partially inspired by the Anime series "Maburaho", but when I finally worked out all of the details of the story and the world its set in it became something totally different. I have so many different characters from so many different Anime making cameo and regular appearances in this fic that it will be a challenge to keep things in proper perspective. Jim Robert Bader's "A Tale of Two Wallets" proves that someone can do a fan fic with hordes of characters and not get the story lines mixed up.

The premise of Ranma being thrown into another universe and starting a new life is not new. There are only so many genuinely new plot ideas out there. Most fan fics and commercially produced books and movies are in their own way rehashes of preexisting plots. This in itself isn't wrong, or bad. Making your idea seem more original to any other is the key. My goal here is to make this story more original, or so I hope. So please sit back and enjoy this new tale I've thrown together. C & C is always welcome and don't forget to visit my website. You'll find the URL in my author profile on this site.


	2. Chapter 2

_The follow story is a work of fan fiction using characters that are copyrighted and/or trademarked. The purpose of this story is for fan enjoyment only free of charge. All original content is protected by Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License._

**oOOOo**

**Michael "TheZorch" Haney's**

"**Maho Shoujo Ranma"**

**oOOOo**

Visit Zorch Central for News, Reader Blogs, and Podcasts.

See my author profile for the URL.

**oOOOo**

**Chapter Two**

"**First Flight"**

Somewhere in another reality a young girl awoke in a hospital room. She was wrapped in bandages due to the wounds she received. She sat up painfully and looked around the room. It was night time. In the gloom she made out the shapes of people whom she recognized as her family. Her father sat next to the bed, fast asleep in a chair. Her eldest sister sat next to him. Her arms were in a cast with a sling. Her other older sister sat across the room across two chairs. One full wall was crowded with flowers and "get well" balloons. Tendo Akane reached back in time to remember how she got here. She regretted it immediately, what she saw horrified her and brought a crushing sadness to her heart. Ranma was gone, she wasn't certain how she knew that but something in her heart told her it was true.

Tendo Akane rolled over and quietly sobbed into his pillow.

**oOOOo**

There was no way Ami was going to miss out on seeing Ranma to school on his first day. This was the beginning of the poor boy's new life in a strange new world.

There had been some debate as to whether he should go to school as a boy or as a girl, but ultimately Tsunami decided he should go as his birth form. The rest of the staff knew this was definitely going to cause some waves.

Keeping him a secret from the media was going to be a real challenge. It was pretty much a given that his existence wouldn't remain a secret for much longer. For Ranma's first day Ami drove him to campus and dropped him off inside the front gate.

As Ranma got out of the car and took a look at Furinken Academy his jaw almost made a crater. This was not the Furinken he remembered by any stretch of the imagination. A few of the "buildings" were old, not just old but ancient looking in traditional Japanese design. The first building in front of him looked like an old Edo Period castle. Another next to it mimicked the ancient look but it obvious it was of more modern construction.

The schoolyard was more of a garden courtyard than the front of a high school. There were fountains and statues adorning the courtyard and huge flowerbeds.

The most striking thing about the place was the student body, or bodies to be more accurate. Ranma suddenly felt very nervous being around so many girls at once, and there were a lot of girls here. A lot of girls in school uniforms, which had the shortest skirts he'd ever seen in his life. He recognized the uniforms; they were worn by those two cute little girls he saved a few days before.

"You look worried, Ranma-kun," Ami said observing the apprehension on his face.

Ranma nervously scratched the back of his head and said, "Yeah, well I kinda had a lot of bad experiences with girls."

Ami smiled at that and replied, "That's a surprise. I thought you might have had a lot of girlfriends back where you come from."

Ranma sighed and said, "You ain't got no idea."

Ami did a Spock Maneuver with her eyebrow and let it go for now. She was certain Ranma would tell all about his previous life in his home universe in time. She beckoned for him to follow and lead him into the courtyard. As they ventured forward whole throngs of girls turned their direction and a hush fell over the courtyard. Some of the looks were of genuine curiosity, some of hostility, but most of them were "hungry" stares.

The pigtailed martial artist was starting to feel like a prime side of beef being shown off at auction. While the regular general public didn't know anything about him the students of Furinken were a different story. There would no way of keeping him a secret to them so they were all told in a special school meeting the day before. It was made clear that nobody was to talk about him outside of the school.

His danger sense went off prompting him to look around for its source. He saw a group of girls across the yard giving him withering stares. Problem was, according to what he'd learned about this world, dirty looks could sometimes kill especially they came from a girl. They were four girls all staring daggers at him.

One was a very pretty blond who dressed like she knew she was gorgeous, and she was, but she was also excessively top heavy.

The second was a dark purple haired girl with a hairstyle similar to Nabiki's except for the two long bangs in the front and the long braided ponytail in the back. She was pretty too but had a kind of regal snobbishness about her he could almost feel like a physical force.

The third girl was not in a school uniform but an elegant kimono. Her long hair was blue and certainly very cute. In her hands she held a wicked looking katana. A real one! She possessed a samurai like bearing which felt more real than the fake one exuded by Kuno.

The fourth girl was the most unusual of the three. Her cyan hair was done in a Sonic the Hedgehog style. She was definitely very pretty too, her eyes were an unearthly yellow and seemed to almost be cat like which made Ranma shiver. Something about this girl's aura was way off. It didn't feel normal. He tried to contemplate on it some more but was suddenly interrupted by a shout.

"RANMA-CHAN!!!!"

Before he could even react the pigtailed boy was tackled to the ground by two small blurs. When the daze of hitting the ground left Ranma found himself being glomped by two little girls. Shampoo would have been proud if they were Amazons. He recognized them instantly, as their features had become literally etched into his very soul. He remembered their names as Sasami and Misao.

Despite them being maybe twelve years old they possessed an unearthly beauty all their own. Misao's eyes were perhaps the most expressive, and almost sensual in a way. Without really knowing why himself, he responded to their hugs in kind. Gasps of "awww" rose from throngs of girls around him. He didn't know it yet but these two little girls and their friends were very popular on campus. Behind him, where the four girls were, he could feel their anger rising exponentially.

"Uh, hi… You two look ok. I was kinda worried 'bout ya," he said scratching the back of his head.

The girls let him sit up but didn't let go of him. They had two reasons. One he saved their lives, and second he was hot. It wasn't often they got to hang off a guy like this. They could both feel the burning jealously of the girls around them.

"We came to see you in the hospital, but you were still unconscious," Sasami said.

"We're glad you're ok," Misao added, blushing furiously.

Ami stood over them with a rye smile and said jokingly, "My, my, Saotome-kun. You're only here a few minutes and you already have two admirers."

The two little girls blushed from the shoulders up and let the pigtailed boy stand up.

Ranma shrugged and sighed, "I think it's a new record."

"Are you taking him to see Tsunami-sensei?" Sasami asked Ami.

Ami nodded with a smile. "She asked to see him when he came in for enrollment."

Misao and Sasami took each of his hands and Sasami said, "We can take him there." Both blushed intensely.

"Lead the way, I have to talk to Tsunami-sensei also." Ami smiled with a wave of her hand.

Blushing so brightly they could probably light the way if it had been night time, the two young girls lead Ranma towards the main school building. The throngs of girls gave way to them as they passed.

"I can't believe we'll actually have a boy attending school here," one girl said after they passed. She had blond hair done up in two large balls sprouting ponytails similar to Sasami's. The girl next to her was dark haired and attractive. Instead of a school uniform she wore the robes of a shrine maiden.

"He is kinda cute though," the girl said.

"I wonder if what we were told yesterday is true, if he can actually use magic," the blond said.

The dark haired girl shrugged and said, "Don't know, but if he's going to enroll the first test will prove if he can or not."

The blond snapped her fingers and said, "Oh, that's right ... that test. Yeah, it's gonna be weird seeing a boy do that."

"Come on Meatball Head, we're gonna be late for Inverse-sensei's class," the dark hair girl called to her friend as she head off toward another building.

**oOOOo**

Ranma felt weird. That was the only way he could describe it. He felt weird. Weird in that two exceptionally cute young girls were holding onto his arms and he wasn't about to have a panic attack. He figured when he saw all of those girls outside of the school he was going to have a seizure right there in the courtyard, either that or some alternate reality tomboy was going to happen along with a giant mallet.

Nothing unusual happened on the way to the Head Mistresses office. Ok, a few unusual things happened.

The two talking cats with the half-moon symbols on their foreheads almost put Ranma into a panic. Turns out they were the instructors for the Senshi ROTC, which he likely wouldn't have to worry about.

His fear of cats was just one more quirk about Ranma that Ami had to make record of.

Ranma almost had a heart attack when he saw one of the teachers walk out into the hallway. She had red hair, stood no taller than his cursed form, and almost looked identical to his cursed form. The only real difference was her apparent lack of cleavage.

Sasami and Misao insisted on introducing Ranma to the school nurse. Her office was right next to Tsunami-sensei's. When they step within the pigtailed boy could feel an aura of peace in the room that couldn't be ignored. It made him feel very relaxed and at ease despite the many shocks he'd received today.

Now Ranma didn't usually pay much attention to girls unless they got up into his face. Like when Shampoo was fawning all over him after he "defeated" her. There was no way for him to miss that she was mighty cute. The two little girls were also definitely cute in a cutesy little girl way but not really cute in a sexual manner, although Misao's eyes were somewhat alluring for such a little girl.

Normally he never really noticed how pretty a girl was until she was right there up in his face like his iinazuke usually were. The nurse had her back to the door when they came in. Her hair was long and golden brown, almost borderline blond, and from the back Ranma could tell she had a nice figure. It was one of the first things he noticed and it made him start to wonder what was going on with him. He never noticed those things immediately. It was usually after the girl glomped him that he noticed. Slowly the woman turned around and Ranma froze in place. He wasn't too sure but he was certain that he might have seen her from somewhere before.

She saw Sasami and Misao clinging to a handsome young man with a pigtail and immediately realized that this was the young man who was attending their school. When she smiled Ranma's heart nearly skipped a beat.

The school nurse was ... a goddess. She dressed conservatively much the way Kasumi did. Her peaceful aura reminded him so much of the eldest Tendo it wasn't funny. She had bright, beautiful eyes and flawlessly fair skin. On her cheeks and forehead were strange triangular shaped blue tattoos. Her smile was gentle and caring. She regarded the young pigtailed boy with curiosity.

Ranma had seen some of the most beautiful women in the world before, but this woman was by far lovelier than all of them. His own beautiful iinazuke included, and that was saying a lot.

"Ara, hello, you must be Ranma-san," the nurse said in a sweet voice that made the pigtailed boy weak in the knees. Not even Shampoo got that kind of reaction out of him.

"H ... H ... Hai." he replied, dumbfounded.

Sasami giggled and said, "We wanted you to meet him, Belldandy-sensei."

"Arigato, Sasami-chan. It's nice to meet you finally, Ranma-san. I don't teach any classes but if you get hurt somehow I'm here to make it all better," Belldandy said sweetly with a bow.

Ranma said, "I ... I heal fast. B-But thanks for the offer."

"Sasami-chan, we have to take him to Tsunami-sensei," Misao reminded her friend.

Sasami said goodbye to the beautiful nurse and they again back in the hall.

"Belldandy-sensei is so sweet and gentle. Everyone on campus loves her. Even Ayeka," Sasami said to Ranma as they neared the head mistress' office.

"Who's Ayeka?" Ranma asked her.

A dark cloud fell over the cheerful little girl's face when she replied, "The president of the student council and self-professed boy hater."

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Another tomboy, oh great," he sighed.

"Anyway, because she's so nice everyone on campus calls Belldandy-sensei the Goddess." Misao said hoping to brighten the mood.

Down the hall came the sound of a petite little sneeze and a sharp "Oh my!"

Sasami and Misao stopped Ranma in front of a huge, carved wooden door.

Engraved in its surface were what Ranma could only guess were runes of magic. He'd never seen the language of magic before, couldn't read it, but was certain he'd learn how to in time.

Sasami reached for the latch to open the door but as she did the door opened on its own.

The smell in incense wafted into the hallway and a feeling of peaceful calm washed over Ranma once again. It was the exact same feeling he had in Belldandy's presence but this was almost ten times stronger.

The two little girls gazed into the huge head mistress's room with wonder as they ushered Ranma inside. The door slowly closed behind them as Ami followed them in.

"Welcome to Furinken Academy Saotome-san." said a gentle feminine voice. The high backed chair on the other side of huge desk turned towards them to reveal a woman whose beauty rivaled Belldandy's. As she stood to greet them Ranma guessed she wasn't that much taller than his cursed form. She had the same colored hair as Sasami and it hung in two long ponytails over one shoulder. She wore a robe, which looked like something like a cross between a traditional Japanese kimono and a priestess's robes. On her forehead were two strange tattooed dots. She even had Sasami's eyes.

"A ... A ... Arigato," Ranma said nervously.

"You two will be late for Mihoshi-sensei's history class," the woman said to the two little girls.

Sasami and Misao gasped suddenly, gave Ranma an Amazon-like hug goodbye, and bode the woman and Ami farewell before leaving the room.

Ranma turned to watch them leave. He was about to say something when the woman answered his question before he could ask it.

"Sasami is my grand daughter," Tsunami told him.

Ranma whirled around in with shock on his face.

Ami stifled a laugh and Tsunami giggled girlishly at the look on his face. "I get that a lot, especially from people who don't really understand magic. The stronger in magic you are, the longer your lifespan."

"So how old are you?" he asked her.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it was rude to ask a woman her age?" said another feminine voice.

Ranma turned toward the other person he didn't know was there. He felt like beating himself over the head for letting his senses drop. He didn't even sense her when he came into the room. The women stepped out of the shadows and Ranma's heart nearly stopped. Ok, meeting one unearthly beautiful being was one thing, meeting two was extraordinary, but three was a little too much.

She was tall, almost as tall as he was, and slender with a curvaceous body. She dressed like she knew she was hot and showed a lot of generous cleavage. Her skin was well tanned, but her hair was platinum blond. On her face, like with Belldandy and the head mistress, she had strange facial tattoos.

"Be nice Urd-sensei," the head mistress said to her.

"I am Tsunami, head mistress of this school, and Urd-sensei here is our school's potion instructor and also one of our flight teachers," Tsunami explained. "Hello Ami-san, its good to see you again."

Ranma's eyebrow went up and he asked, "Flight? Oh yeah, when I saw Sasami and Misao back at my apartment they were flying on brooms. What's up with that anyway?"

"All mages know how to fly with brooms. In fact the ability to focus your power enough to control flight with one is required in order to attend this school," Urd told him.

The pigtailed boy did an eyebrow Spock Maneuver. "Uh, you ain't say'n I'm gonna be flying one are ya?" he asked her.

Ami smiled at him and said, "I can fly one. Its pretty easy Ranma-san."

"Only a person who is truly gifted with the power of magic an fly a broom. A boy with Magitech implants can't," Urd answered him sternly and produced a broom from out of nowhere. "So if you can 'really' use magic this won't be a problem for you, now will it?"

"Urd-sensei!" Tsunami and Ami scolded her. Urd looked away looking embarrassed but her eyes stayed on Ranma with doubt shining in them visibly. With an angry determined look on his face he took the broom from her and turned to Tsunami.

The head mistress regarded him with a gentle smile. "You must forgive Urd-sensei, there are many who find the idea of a boy who can use magic to either be offensive or a fraud," she explained.

"Or both," Urd commented in a whisper. Ranma shot her a hostile look. Tsunami coughed to get their attention. Ami tried not to give the platinum haired woman a withering glance.

Tsunami explained with a kind smile, "Normally we reserve this for a special ceremony where we introduce our new students to the student body, but since you are coming in during the middle of semester we're making an exception."

He returned the smile with a patented Saotome smirk of determination and asked, "What do I gotta do?"

**oOOOo**

"You're kidding me right?"

Ranma looked down at the school grounds and swallowed hard. He wasn't afraid of heights. Because of Akane and her mallet he was pretty accustomed to flying. He almost hit a few low flying airline jets when the old freak used his pipe attack to send him flying. Their current perch wasn't quite that high but the huge buildings below looked rather small from this height. The platform they stood on wasn't held up by anything at all. On the other end was a door, which actually opened up somewhere way down there in the main building.

Tsunami explained to him that the new students would take their first flights by filing through the door one at and time and would launch themselves from the platform. Those who could fly immediately would join the rest of the students, but those who couldn't would be caught by teachers on the ground and would have to go back to preparation school again until the got a second shot at getting in next year.

As he held the broom, Ranma could feel that strange flow of power that he felt that day he saved the two girls. It wasn't quite to strong now as it was then but he could still feel it. He said this to Tsunami and she said it was a good sign.

"Now, don't worry. If something goes wrong Urd-sensei is down in the courtyard. She'll catch you if you fall," Tsunami told him reassuringly.

Ranma swallowed as he looked own. "Yeah, I guess," he said not sounding very convinced.

He felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Despite her feelings on the matter Urd-sensei wouldn't allow anyone to come to harm. If you do fall she will catch you," said Tsunami.

Ranma nodded. "Ok. Well, here I go," he said. As instructed by Urd he straddled the broom and held it firmly in his hands. Some girls rode it this way and others rode the broom sidesaddle style like Sasami and Misao had been doing that day.

"BANZAI!" he yelled as he launched himself from the platform. Tsunami's eyes lit up with surprise and she beamed with a bright smile as it looked like Ranma was gaining altitude. However, it was clear something was wrong, Ranma was starting to loose altitude and began to tumble.

"Want me to grab him?" she heard Urd from down below using a voice projection spell.

Tsunami shook her head and answered, "No. Not until the last minute. When I touched him I felt his power. Give him time."

"Not too much time Tsunami, he's dropping fast." Urd replied.

Ranma knew he was in trouble immediately after he jumped off the platform. He felt the flow of the power but he couldn't focus it like Tsunami told him to. Try as he might he couldn't do it. It was like having a vast reserve of Ki and not being able to call upon it. Air began to rush around him and he began to tumble out of control. He knew Urd was down below to catch him. If Tsunami said she would do it then he believed her. In the few split seconds he had left Ranma thought back to what he did and how he tapped into that power when he saved the girls that day. He remembered very little of what happened but he remembered clearly how he felt. The pigtailed boy reached deep within towards the source of that strange new power within him and took hold of it. With a great effort he pulled with all of his will until something suddenly snapped. It was like opening up the floodgates, he felt the power flow through him like a raging river.

"I'm going to catch him, he's too close to the ... holy shit!" Urd shouted as she was forced to duck as Ranma suddenly shot forward and started gaining altitude like a rocket.

"Look at that!" came several shouts from all over the school as students ran to the windows and other on the athletic field looked up.

"It's Ranma-chan!" Sasami cried and grabbed her best friend Misao into hug.

"He did it," Misao smiled with tears in his eyes.

"I ... I ... I don't believe it!" Masaki Ayeka gasped but there was no denying what she saw through her classroom window.

Beside her Hakubi Ryoko laughed, "Wow. I guess he really can use magic."

"Ruri Ruri look! Its that boy we heard about from Sasami-chan and Misao-chan!" uber-cute young Mihana Chiyo shouted gleefully to her companion in swim class. The cute fair skinned girl with cyan hair next to her looked up and did a Spock Maneuver.

"Hmm. So the rumors were true," she said.

"Oh mein gott! It's that boy!" beautiful young Asuka Langley Souryu gasped as she was about to take a bite of her lunch.

"A boy who can use magic. Intriguing," beautiful blue haired Ayanami Rei commented before returning to her food.

"YAAAHOOOO!!!!" Ranma cried as he raced over the skies of the school. He flew over the athletic field filled with students and pumped more power to the broom. Shock waves shed off him as he broke the sound barrier. The blast deafened everyone and shattered a few windows. Magic woven into the glass made it instant reform the second it broke. Long ago the staff learned to do this to save money on repairs. Explosions in class were a common occurrence at Furinken Academy having buildings that repaired themselves was a must.

BOOOM!!! "Hey! Don't over do it!" Urd shouted up at him using a voice projection spell.

"Sorry!" Ranma shouted down to her as he passed overhead at a slower speed.

He finally touched down in the schoolyard and found himself suddenly assaulted by a pair of soft, supple arms.

"Oh Ranma-san I knew you could do it!" Ami cheered as she hugged him.

Ever since coming to this strange alien version of the Nerima he knew Ranma had been noticing changes within him. He was starting to "notice" girls and react to how they looked. Being hugged so closely by a girl who was a spitting image for Kasumi was one too many major hits to his system. She literally glomped him, pressing her ample chest into him tightly. He went limp in her arms as a geyser of blood shot from his nose.

"ARA! Ranma-san are you alright!?"

**oOOOo**

Ranma slowly came back to reality finding himself in a very soft, inviting bed in the school infirmary. Behind a screen he could hear Belldandy speaking to someone. He focused his senses and listened.

"... and so his behavior does not seem to match his own description of how he was in his own universe?" Belldandy asked someone. He didn't get to hear the beginning of her sentence.

"No. From the psychological profile done on him he is shy around girls because he doesn't really know how to relate to them and being in close proximity to them makes him nervous because of the same problem. Both can be attributed to his father," said the voice of Ami.

"So why did he react the way he did?" the voice of Urd asked.

"The Furies," said Tsunami. It was the first time he heard her voice since waking up.

"Huh?" the other women responded in unison.

"Ranma-san comes from a world where the masculine and feminine furies of the earth are in sync with one another, but our world is different." she explained. "On our Earth the feminine furies are stronger. Its possible this is what caused his behavioral change."

He heard Urd laugh. "So, you saying he's gonna turn from a shy boy into a playboy?" she asked.

There was a pause then Tsunami said, "No, but I think he'll start to notice girls in a way that is more normal for a young man his age. Its also possible that due to his lack of education his attraction to girls could become more pronounced because he was never properly educated."

Ami gasped, "Will that be a problem for the school?"

Tsunami giggled, "I doubt it. It's healthy for a boy to have dirty thoughts about girls. According to the psychology report his libido has been severely repressed both by his father's thoughtless teachings and by his iinazuke's severely violent aversion to boys."

He wasn't to sure what that last word "aversion" meant, but he understood what "violent" and iinazuke meant when put in the same sentence.

"When I met him earlier today he seemed like such a polite and pleasant young man," Belldandy commented.

Ami giggled. "Goodness, it's been a long time since a boy responded to me like he did today. I'm glad at lost someone thinks I'm still attractive."

Ranma remembered how it felt to be in the woman's arms and he shivered from head to toe. Whoa! Could they be right? A part of him screamed at him it was bad idea to embrace these changes, but another part of him screamed louder that it was all right. In fact, Tsunami-sensei said it was all right.

"You did glomp him and press your boobs into his body," Urd said. Ranma couldn't see the mischievous smirk on the woman's face nor the bright blush on Ami's.

"Ara!" Belldandy gasped.

Ranma didn't see her blush either.

Ami stammered, "Well ... I ... that is ..." She stopped for a moment, Ranma didn't see her drop her head and she added, "Maybe I am attracted to him a little. He is cute after all, and ... well there's just something about him that's different from other men in our world."

"You mean he's not smug and stuck up," said Urd.

"I wouldn't exactly describe men of our world that way, there are many who are nice ..." Ami protested.

"I must admit that these days men of our world have started to become distrusting of women and very agitated," Tsunami said.

"Um, excuse me?" Ranma inquired and the girls opened the screen.

"Oh, Ranma-san how are you feeling?" Belldandy asked

He stood up and went over to Ami. She blushed when he took her hands in his. Looking into her eyes he said, "Ami-san, you are a very beautiful woman, and if there's guys who don't see that then they gotta the dumbest jerks in the world." What he said was sincere and from the heart. The dissenting scream in the back of his head grew fainter and fainter until he could no longer hear it.

"A ... A ... Arigato-gosaimasu," she replied looking away with a blushing, embarrassed smile.

"You had a very good first flight Ranma-san." Tsunami smiled at him.

Urd laughed, "Yeah, most first years don't break Mach one on their first flight."

"I guess this means I pass the entrance exam?" Ranma asked while scratching the back of his head.

"Welcome to Furinken Academy, Ranma-san, mage in training," Tsunami said with a bright smile.

**oOOOo**

In her office somewhere in another part of Tokyo, Masaki Misaki watched a recording of Ranma's first flight on a Magitech recording gem. The recording gem had been held by one of the school janitorial staff. The device, which was half magic and half science recorded three-dimensional video as a moving hologram. After the video played through several times in the air above her desk she grabbed the gem and threw it across the room.

"I can't believe this!" she screamed.

"It's impossible to fly one of those brooms without the ability to use and focus magic. You can't do it with Magitech implants," the person who delivered the gem to her said.

Misaki fumed, "Ability to use magic or not, if Tsunami thinks she can get away with allowing this offense to women to take place she is sorely mistaken."

"But, board members have no authority over school curriculum and attendance decisions," the deliverer of the gem reminded her. "And the Prime Minister is on her side."

Misaki picked up an ornate box off her desk and said, "There are other ways to deal with this."

"Moving against that boy in a clandestine way Madam Misaki would be extremely dangerous. According to what I heard Tsunami is invoking school rules and is having him move from his apartment to the school grounds. Reaching him there will mean going through her and her teaching staff," the gem deliverer told her.

"I won't have to go through them. I have another way to reach him," Misaki said with an evil grin.

**oOOOo**

To be continued ...


	3. Chapter 3

_The follow story is a work of fan fiction using characters that are copyrighted and/or trademarked. The purpose of this story is for fan enjoyment only free of charge. All original content is protected by Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License._

**oOOOo**

**Michael "TheZorch" Haney's**

"**Maho Shoujo Ranma"**

**oOOOo**

**Chapter Three**

"**The Thrawl in the Basement"**

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! SMASH!

Ranma opened his eyes and groaned like a bear being woken up too early from its hibernation, he was usually a morning person but now he lived on his own and that meant he had to do things for himself like getting the bath ready and making breakfast. As he sat up his out stretched arm dragged the remains of his clock to the floor. Dammit, he cursed inwardly. That was the second clock he'd demolished in one week. He was in a world where magic was everywhere but they still couldn't make a clock that wouldn't fall apart when he hits the snooze button. Ok ... punches the snooze button.

He yawned massively as he went from his bedroom to the living area slash half-kitchen. The smell of miso soup wafted into his nostrils. He was on the first floor of the girl's dorm closest to the front door. The move from the apartment he was given by the Prime Minster's office was Tsunami's idea. There had been some minor protest from some of the girls about having a boy staying in the same building but he publicly promised he wouldn't try to peek in at them. He could remember seeing a lot of disappointed faces that day. Geeze, and girls call us guys hentai.

Hold on, rewind! Miso soup!?

His keen ears picked up the distinctive noise of something boiling and realized the smell wasn't coming from the other rooms but from his kitchenette. Rounding the corner he stopped in surprise, the pretty young blue haired girl he remembered saving and who came to visit him in the hospital was at his stove busily making breakfast. There were other items on the small nearby table also.

"Uh," he muttered as Sasami noticed him standing there.

"Ranma-neiichan, ohaiyo," she greeted him with a warm and gentle smile. Though she was a little girl, she reminded Ranma so much of Kasumi and how she was always so very gentle hearted and kind. Sasami was like that though she did a slight temper but nothing at all like Akane. She was far too young for him but she was cute. One day she'd make a great girlfriend and eventually a wonderful wife for some lucky guy, he was sure of it.

"Ohaiyo, uh, how did you get in here Sasami-chan?" he asked her. Tsunami-sensei had explained the doors to the rooms were keyed to the people who were staying in them and only them, which is one reason why the girls didn't put up as much a fuss about him staying here as they did. There were ways to get around those locks for emergencies though.

The blue haired little girl winked at him, "That ... is a secret."

"You magic hacked the lock," he accused with a knowing smile, during the short time he knew the sweet little girl he learned she was very proficient at magic. Probably one of the best in the school. While she was a sweetheart most of the time she had a mischievous side to her that loved to play pranks. Ayeka and Ryoko were usually her primary targets. Ranma learned that those two were rivals for her brother's affections. Tenchi attended a Magitech school on the other side of town.

Sasami hung her head, embarrassed and pleaded, "Please don't tell Tsunami-sensei."

Ranma took a seat at the small table next to the kitchenette. It was a western style table rather than the more traditional Japanese style low table he was used to at Tendo-ke. He took in the bountiful feast that had been laid out on the table before him, rice, pickles, freshly cook fish on skewers, and there was the Miso soup with chunk of tofu on the stove. Did she get up extra early just to make me breakfast?

"You didn't have to do all this," he told her, his mouth starting to water. "But thanks, I won't tell on you."

Sasami put on a pair of oven mitts and moved the steaming pot of soup to the table. She quickly made Ranma and herself a bowl of rice and added in the Miso and tofu mix. "This is your first official day of regular classes after your private sessions with Tsunami-sensei and Washu-sensei," she told him. "So I thought I'd make you breakfast to celebrate." She smiled warmly filling the room with her happy aura.

If only she were my age, Ranma thought as he returned her smile. He tried the Miso and rice mix a bit tentatively at first then immediately tore into it. The little girl giggled, happy to see he liked her cooking and started on her own bowl.

"That was really good," Ranma complimented her when he was finally done after about three helpings of soup. He never thought he'd ever meet anyone who could best Kasumi in the kitchen.

Sasami blushed furiously, "Arigato."

She helped Ranma clear the table and put the dishes into the sink. The enchantments in the sink immediately went to work cleaning them. At least that was one chore he wouldn't have to do on his own, he thought with a sigh. Sasami left after giving him a gentle peck on the cheek and ran off with her book bag in hand. With her gone Ranma went to the furo and got a quick shower. Tsunami and Washu-sensei had both told him that it was likely he'd never be cured of his curse. He didn't quite understand everything they said, but they believed his curse was created by something called the Old Ones. They didn't exactly sound like a friendly bunch to him.

**oOOOo**

Ranma looked at his class schedule as he walked through the halls of Furinken Academy. He still wasn't used to the strange looks he got from the girls. Many were still skeptical of his magical abilities while others seemed to welcome his presence. It was pretty clear whom in his class was for and against him right off the bat. Ayeka had been one of the most vocal students against his attendance, but that wasn't much of a surprise considering who her mother was. Ryoko was somewhat indifferent at the idea yet he did notice her looking at him from time to time. The other girls in the so-called Cutie Squad all accepted him without question. He saved Sasami and Misao after all, and a few of the other girls liked him because of that. He'd been to three classes so far, most were regular non-magic electives like language and mathematics, the next one though was a class he had been looking forward to. Basics of Offensive Magic and Magical Defense.

The class's teacher was a real firebrand. At first Ranma mistook her for a student when Sasami warned him not to talk to Inverse-sensei like she was a kid. She looked kind of like his own cursed form except for the fact that she wasn't quite as well endowed. She had Akane's temper though, which he discovered very quickly when one of the students fell asleep in class.

"EXPLOSION ARRAY!"

CRASH!

BOOM!

"AAAHHHHH!"

THUD!

"Usagi-san, DON'T FALL ASLEEP IN MY CLASS!"

During his one week stint of private sessions with Tsunami-sensei and Washu-sensei Ranma learned a lot about magic and how it worked in this world. You didn't memorize spells or magic words like in those Harry Potter books. Words and gestured did help when trying to focus on making the magic do what you want correctly, thus the reason why they were called a Focus. A Focus could be a word, a group of words, a hand gesture or even an object, it reinforced the image in your mind of what you wanted the magic to do. This was something first graders learned at a very young age, but he was from another world and didn't have the benefit of that education thus he was given a week of private classes to help him prepare.

All of this made him wonder, since magic flowed through him like ki or chakra then wasn't it possible for him to use magic in his martial arts? He'd never tried it before, wasn't entirely sure it was possible until those private lessons but now he was certain it just might work. Lina-sensei had taken the class out to the combat range, rows upon rows of target ranges where students learned to fire off different attack spells. The targets were large cider block walls with red bullseye patterns drawn on them. The class was lined up at one of the rows.

"Ok, Kiriko-san, please show us a basic fireball." ordered the short, redheaded teacher.

Kiriko was a tall, top heavy blond girl with a real rich bitch attitude. She was one of the few girls who adamantly didn't want Ranma around but eventually decided to just partially tolerate his presence. A very lovely purple haired girl stood behind her, she was named Yuna and was one of the many who openly welcomed him. Ranma could still hear the blond, odongo haired airhead grumbling about how over the top Lina-sensei can get sometimes. He made a note "not" to fall asleep during her class. That Explosion Array looked painful.

"Fireball!" Kiriko launched a small sphere of red flame that splashed against the cider blocks with a loud bang.

"Not bad," Lina-sensei complimented her. "Ok, who's next?"

"Me, Lina-sensei!" another red head shouted. She was named Asuka Langley Souryu. She was German according to what Ranma had been told and magic ran very powerfully in her family. She wasn't a very tall girl but she was pretty and her personality also reminded Ranma a lot of Akane. It was really starting to make him feel a bit depressed thinking about it.

"Ok, show us your stuff," Lina-sensei waved towards the target down the field. Asuka closed her eyes, raised her hands and began to make a pattern in the air with her fingers. She didn't say any words as her Focus, she finished the pattern and stabbed her finger towards the target. A red sphere shot from her finger and impacted the wall with a loud boom and a visible shock wave.

"Pretty good," Lina-sensei admitted to her and the rest of the class. "Though I wouldn't expect anything less from a Souryu." Asuka puffed up her chest at that, her family was well known as one of the most powerful, magically speaking, in most of Germany. As Asuka walked back to join the rest of the students Lina's eye caught her newest student. With a rye smile she called out to him.

"Ranma, get up here and lets see what you can do," she called to him. Ranma was about to protest being picked so soon and out of order with the way the rest of the students were lined up but Lina-sensei called him again and with a resigned look on his face he stepped forward.

"Does it gotta be a fireball or can it be something else?" he asked the red headed teacher. He wanted to try something, he was very curious to see if it would world. Based on what he'd been taught by Tsunami-sensei and Washu-sensei he didn't see any reason why it wouldn't.

"We're using fireball because its the easiest to master, but if you want to try something else go right ahead." Lina-sensei told him and stepped away. She'd been skeptical at first of the idea of a boy who could use magic, but when Tsunami-sensei admitted him into the school she had no choice but to believe. Her full attention was on him, she wanted to see the miracle boy at work for herself, not to prove that what she was told was true but to actually see it and be a part of history in the making. As Ranma closed his eyes she could sense his magical aura rising in strength. He's very strong magically, his mana levels are huge, she thought to herself. The power kept going up and up and Lina-sensei started to get a little nervous. Just how much power was he going to let loose?

Ranma focused hard on the flow of mana through his body in a similar way to how he called on his ki. It took a little more effort to make his mana come to his call but when it did boy did it ever flow. He formed the thoughts in his mind, concentrated on what he wanted the magic to do and moved his body into the position he would use as a Focus.

"Moko ..."

"What sort of spell is that?" Kirko asked as she watched him. She too could feel his power level rising and was astonished.

"... Taka ..."

A ball of blue light manifested in his hands which he held by his waist in a position similar to that seen in popular fighting games. The light became brighter and it gave off a sound like a live wire hissing and crackling. An unseen, unfelt breeze began to ruffle Ranma's hair and clothing as the ball of light grew even brighter with every second.

"... bisha!"

The girls screamed as Ranma unleashed a blinding bright blast of light from his hands. The sound of the mana charge was deafening. Everyone quickly hit the dirt and covered their heads as the first shock wave of heat reached them. A loud sound like a clap of thunder amplified a few hundred times blasted over the school yard and shattered windows. The windows, of course, reformed themselves in an instant. Students from other classes came to the restored windows and looked out towards the practice field. Lina-sensei was the first to see what was left of the target range when the dust began to clear. The cinder block wall was totally gone. In its place was a blasted out crater over eight feet wide and perhaps three feet deep belching out black smoke.

Ranma turned to his teacher and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Uh, I think I used a little too much on that one," he said.

"No shit Sherlock!" Hino Rei, another of his fellow students, snapped at him pointing at the obliterated target range. Usagi saw the look in her friend's eyes though, she could see the envy and some curiosity in them.

**oOOOo**

The rest of Ranma's first day was certainly something new for him. No random martial arts challenges, no crazy wannabe samurai, no old freak stealing bloomers from the girl's locker room, and best of all no Hinako-sensei to drain him dry. Well, there was the chewing out he got from Lina-sensei but overall he got the impression that his teacher was impressed. He picked up a few more admirers after that display of power in the school yard. Almost the entire school had seen what he did and they could all see the aftermath. There was no longer any doubt among the girls that his abilities were indeed very real.

At lunch time he got to meet the rest of the girls whom the students all called "The Cutie Squad", and he had to admit this gaggle of little girls was rightly named. He already knew Sasami and Misao who were both definitely cute, but there was Chiyo-chan who was just plain adorable and very friendly. Ayanami Rei was around fourteen, he guessed, and very pretty. She was old enough for him to date had he been interested in that sort of thing, and here lately he'd actually been thinking of going out with a girl for the first time in ... well ... forever. Hoshino Ruri was about Sasami-chan's age, she had a kind of ethereal beauty to her which made her seem older than she actually was. She was also somewhat withdrawn and quiet like Rei, but given time he was sure she'd open up a little more. There were many other cute little girls who were all a part of this exclusive club of uber-cute little girls, but they didn't have time to introduce themselves to him. All he knew was that they were all adorable, and when they grew up they were going to be absolutely beautiful. Like the one everyone called Chibi-Usa, or the adorable little Iris who was an exchange student from France.

It took Ranma all day to get over his cuteness overload. A fair number of those preteen beauty queens, soon to be gorgeous babes in a few years, were giving him strange looks. He'd seen those looks before and hoped there wouldn't be trouble. The last thing he needed was for an army of little girls with magical powers to start fighting over him. With his last class out of the way he was finally able to head back to the dorm. Luckily for him Sasami and Misao were the only two members of the Cutie Squad who lived in his dorm building.

He was relaxing on his couch watching some TV when a knock came from his door. He opened it to find a very nervous looking Sasami peering up at him. Behind her were some of the girls he knew from his classes today. Kiriko was an excessively buxom blond with a chip on her shoulder and a large bank account which made her think she was better than everyone else, but at least she didn't act like Kodachi. Ryoko's cyan air looked like she'd stuck her finger in a light socket without turning it off, and though she acted tough most of the time Ranma has seen her softer side when talking to Sasami and Misao. When Ranma first met Mizuno Ami his heart almost skipped a beat. She looked so much like Akane yet was so much more beautiful than she was at the same time. A part of him hoped she didn't notice his reaction but the blush on her face told him otherwise. That had been several days ago when he started his private lessons before he was put with the rest of the student body. He remembered that she was a member of the Sailor Senshi ROTC and could transform into a magic girl or something like that. She was the only one among them who was actually friendly with him.

"Sasami, what's up?" he asked nervously looking at the other three women with her.

"We ... we ... we have to go into the basement," said Sasami.

"And?" he waited.

"We're afraid of the basement, ok!" all five girls yelled at once and he promptly facefaultered.

Ranma didn't really mind helping the girls out, but he thought they'd be a little braver than this. Here were four girls proficient at magic and they were afraid of going into the basement. He'd never actually been to this part of the dorm building so the girls had to lead the way. Ryoko was the one in the lead, she seemed less afraid, Ami held something in her head she was looking at intently, Kiriko was bringing up the rear while Sasami and Misao keep a tight grip on both of Ranma's arms. They reached the door leading a flight of stone stairs which lead downwards towards an inky black void below the dorm building.

The basement was more like a cellar, a very big, dark cellar. It was cold, damp, and dark down here. There was little in the way of lighting except for a few incandescent lights which looked to be almost a century old. Ranma could see in the gloom what looked like old wine racks, some of which still had bottles in them, and an assortment of things he'd never even seen before. Ryoko clicked on a large dry-cell battery torch lamp and lead the way through a virtual maze of stone corridors and ramps which lead deeper in the cellar. The sounds of life from upstairs, foot steps, radios, and general noise slowly faded away leaving behind an eerie, unnerving quiet.

"The storage room is just this way," Ryoko said over her shoulder as they rounded a corner and stopped before a heavy looking wooden door. She grabbed the iron ring that served as a door knob and struggled to open the door but it wouldn't budge. Ranma gently shrugged away from the two little girls clinging to him for dear life, went over to the door, and pressed on it with one hand without much effect. With a loud tooth grinding creak the door opened wide and banged against the inner wall. The sound echoed through the rest of the deep cellar hollowly.

"Show off," Ryoko groused, her face blushing as she passed him through the doorway. The storage room was rather large, about the size of four or five average sized dorm rooms and was packed to the rafters with stuff. In the gloom of Ryoko's torch lamp Ranma could make our furniture which looked be over one hundred years old, framed paintings which looked even older, and all sorts of other stuff he had to clue what they could be.

"What are we looking for?" he started rummaging through the piles of stuff finding a treasure trove of things both ancient and modern.

"A ... A ... A silver tea service in an ornate wooden box," Sasami named off the first item.

Ranma saw a wooden box with ornate carvings on it. It was varnished red and looked very old. He picked it up and looked inside after opening its clasps. He'd found the their first item, inside was an ornate silver tea service.

"Found it!" he cheered, his voice echoing down the hallway loudly.

"Shhhh!" the girls all shushed him and looked at the open door timidly.

Ranma rolled his eyes, "There's nothing down here but us."

"This cellar connects to the old sewers underneath the city and there's been rumors that Thrawl have been seen down there." Kiriko told him in a whisper. Sasami and Misao gasped and latched onto him again almost making him drop the box with the tea service. Ami look a bit pale and was waving the small item in her hand as if scanning with it.

"There isn't any right now, thank goodness." she said closing the item up and slipped it into her pocket.

At first he couldn't place the name "Thrawl", but then he remembered what he learned while studying under Tsunami-sensei. It was his third day studying under her privately to get him ready to join the other students. That day had been an outing to one of the local museums.

**oOOOo**

Quietly she lead him through several rooms filled with artwork from many different eras of Japan's ancient past and artwork from other nations and cultures. They passed into the natural history section. Here they passed large displays of dinosaur fossils and dioramas of prehistoric times. She stopped before the entrance to a dark room which was isolated from the rest of the natural history section, the doorway was decorated with black obsidian rock. Beyond the doorway was a gloomy room lit by a faint ambient light.

She beckoned for him to follow her and he did. He felt that he could trust Tsunami-sensei, but for the first time he was actually feeling fear. Something within him told him that he shouldn't go in there, but he trusted his teacher and followed behind her. When they stopped a bright light from above illuminated a large glass enclosed display in the center of the dark room. What Ranma had seen there nearly made him scream in terror for the first time in his entire life.

"It" was dead, obviously, because it didn't move yet in death it still looked menacing. Horrific was actually the true description for what it looked like. The thing had a body that was insect like with six legs covered in razor sharp spines and curved hook-like blades. A long scorpion like tail rose up from behind with two sharp barbs on the end. Its head was elongated and flat with a huge mouth full of razor sharp mouth parts and a pair of large, bladed mandibles. Its glistening body was all black, except for the eyes, the thing's big multi-faceted eyes were a sickly yellow.

"That is a Thrawl," Tsunami told him.

He pointed at the thing behind the glass and swallowed hard. "So this is those things you were telling me about, from that war a long time ago." he replied.

Tsunami nodded and moved to stand next to him. "Most of the world was destroyed and humanity almost became extincts because of them." She turned away and want to the other side of the display.

"Sadly, they are still among us." she added.

Ranma's mouth fell open. "I thought they were all killed and that's why you got this thing with the furies and all causing problems." he said.

Tsunami shook her head and explained, "No, Ranma, they weren't all killed. I told you the Thrawl were defeated but not killed off. Some survived and hid themselves in the deep places of the Earth to wait for when the time was right to come to the surface again to wage war on us again."

"You think that time is coming," it hadn't been a question from Ranma, it was more of a statement. He hadn't known her for every long but he knew when she getting serious about something and Tsunami-sensei was being deadly serious right now.

"There have been reports of increased activity," she said. "Mostly rumors, but the number of first hand sightings of Thrawl scouts in the wild is increasing. This one for instance, it was killed at the outskirts of city about three months ago."

Ranma looked at the thing with a shocked expression. Well that explains why it looks so well preserved, he thought.

Then, he asked the question, "Why are you telling me this?"

Tsunami-sensei came back around to stand in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Because I believe that before the end you will play an important role in all of this, Ranma-kun. A very important role indeed."

**oOOOo**

Sasami and Misao's vice-like grips on his arms brought him back from his memories. Kiriko and Ryoko saw Ranma's expression change to one of grim determination and drew the two little girls closer to him. Kiriko almost smiled at that, seeing him being so protected of the two little cuties of the dorm won some brownie points with her. It was the same with Ryoko.

"Let's get the hell out of here," he said quietly and lead the girls towards the door.

Ryoko lead the way with the torch lamp again through the seemly endless stone corridors of the cellar. After what Ranma guessed to be an hour of wandering they came to a large room that intersected with three other corridors. Here there was large boxes and other items stacks nearly to the ceiling. Ranma wondered exactly how much crap did the school have stored down here. Considering how long the school had apparently been in existence that could be a lot of stuff.

"We didn't come this way before," Kiriko pointed out and turned to Ryoko. "I though you said you knew the way in and out."

"I said I've been down here only once before," Ryoko quietly grouse at her putting enthuses on the word "only".

"Ara," Ami gasped in a manner that reminded Ranma so much of Kasumi.

"Uh, are you saying we're lost?" Ranma asked and the two girls clinging to him for dear life start shaking like leaves in a gale.

Ryoko started to open her mouth, looked down one corridor with a hopeful expression on her face then frowned and turned the other way. This repeated a few times before she finally slumped her shoulders and admitted that she didn't know where they were.

Ami took the device from her pocket again and looked at it intently. "Oh no, I can't connect to the campus Wi-Fi network to look up the map of the catacombs off the Intranet." she said. It was all Greek to Ranma, he'd heard Ami was something of a technology buff but what she just said went right over his head.

Kiriko threw up her hands, "This is wonderful, we're lost."

"Hey, gimme a break, at least I got us to the right storage room." Ryoko growled at her.

"But we need to get back out!" Kiriko shouted at her. Ranma and the little girls wince at how loudly the blond's voice echoed throughout the place.

Ranma sighed, "Well, if there's anything down here it knows we're here now."

"I'm scared," Sasami whispered silently at Ranma's side. He gently patted her head and began to focus his senses or the environment around him.

"Me too," Misao added in an almost imperceptible voice that Ranma's sensitive hearing picked up easily.

"So am I," Ami said edging just a little close towards Ranma.

"That way," Ranma pointed towards the corridor to the right.

The two older girls looked at him. "How do you know? This is you're first time down here."

"Yeah, but the air coming from that way is less musty." he explained and headed that way with the two little girls latched onto his sides. All this time he was still carrying the stuff they got from the storage room they visited. The corridor lead into another smaller four way crossroads. Ranma found an old backpack, made sure there weren't any spiders hiding in it, and stuff it full of the stuff he'd been carrying and strapped it on. Then, he swept the two little girls up into his arms and they each wrapped their arms around his neck.

"Which way now, Mr. Bloodhound?" Ryoko asked him sarcastically.

He shot her a withering glance and let his senses scan the room. He turned to the corridor on the left and lead the way through three more rooms filled with boxes and piles of stuff until they came to a huge chamber lined with crates of all sizes.

"Damn, Nabiki could make a fortune off this place on eBay back in my home universe." Ranma commented looking at the clutter in the place.

"Your universe still has an eBay?" Ami asked him with a surprised look. "Our eBay went out of business because of their unfair business practices, people stopped using them. Now uBid has taken their place." Ranma did a Spock maneuver on that one.

Ryoko shined her light around and said, "I recognize this room. I've been here before, about a year ago."

"Do you remember the way out?" Kiriko asked her pointedly.

"I think so," Ryoko replied though she didn't sound convincing.

"You think so," Kiriko put her hands on her hips and grunted.

"Can we just get out of here?" Ranma interrupted them knowing this could easily turn into a fight and he'd seen Ryoko and that one Ayeka girl have some nasty fights. And he thought his iinazuke often had some bad fights, but those two girls took the cake.

"Please," Ami and the two little girls whispered in unison.

Ryoko pointed down the corridor which went through the center of the big room. "That way,"

They continued through the huge room for about ten minutes when a sound echoed to their ears. The little girls screamed and Ranma fell into a fighting stance when a tower of piled up large boxes collapsed blocking the path. In the gloom of Ryoko's torch lamp Ranma detected movement but he couldn't tell what "it" looked like or even how big it was.

"We aren't alone," he warned.

He nearly face faltered as the two older girls fell in behind him with Sasami and Misao. "Its a Thrawl," Kiriko said in a frightened tone. Ami didn't hide, she pulled a small pen like thing from her pocket which was topped with some type of ornament. He'd never seen a Henshin Pin so he wasn't exactly sure what it was he was looking at.

"Let it come!" Ryoko snarled but kept herself hidden behind Ranma and he could the uncertain look on her face.

"I don't wanna be a flesh eating zombie! WAH!!!" Sasami sobbed.

Ranma blink-blinked, "Zombie? Flesh eating?"

Ryoko groaned and berated him, "Didn't you read the three chapters we got for homework in our magical defense class? BAKA!"

"You ... do homework?" Kiriko gave the cyan haired girl a sidelong glance.

"Shut up!" Ryoko grouched back at her. "Anybody who dies from the sting of a Thrawl comes back as a flesh eating zombie."

"During the great war it was said that whole armies of the undead used to roam the world because of the Thrawl." Ami added.

Ranma has never seen a "real" zombie before, but he played plenty of Dead Rising at Hiroshi's place to know they weren't to be taken lightly. He's also seen a lot of zombie movies from America at Hiroshi's place, the guy was a zombie movie fanatic, so he imagined what it would be life to face an army of the undead. He didn't like the prospect any. His senses detected movement again and he heard a sound in the rubble getting closer.

Ranma brought up his hands and concentrated on drawing his ki and mana together. "Moko ..."

"You're not gonna shoot that off down here?!" Ryoko yelled at him in shock as the energy ball formed in his hands.

"... Taka ..."

"WAIT!" Before he could stop her, Sasami darted away towards the fallen boxes. She stopped at edge of the mess and knelt down.

"Sasami-chan," Kiriko and Ami called to the little girl.

"Its ok," Sasami said over her shoulder and stood up to face them. In the gloom Ranma could just make out something small and dark in the little girl's arms.

"Is that what I think it is?" Ryoko asked turning the light to shine on the thing in the little girl's arms.

Sasami raised a hand in front of her face, "Hey, that's bright!" What Ranma could see of the thing in Sasami's arms before Ryoko moved the light told him it definitely wasn't a Thrawl. Thrawl weren't furry, they didn't have long hind legs nor big furry ears.

"Its a Cabbit," Misao cooed and went over to her friend who was gently petting the little creature.

"Oh, its so cute!" Ami smiled patting the little creature on the head.

"A what?" Ranma said questioningly.

"Oh, he's adorable." Kiriko said going over to the girls.

Ryoko lifted the creature's hind leg and said, "Look again."

"Oh wow, he's a girl!" Sasami cheered and hugged the thing to her chest.

"Miya!" the little creature let out happily.

"I haven't seen a real Cabbit in years, I wonder how it got down here?" Kiriko wondered while giving the tiny half-cat, half-rabbit thing a good scratch below her chin. The little thing seemed to like it.

"She's so thin, the poor thing is starved." Sasami worried.

"Uh, were did Ranma-kun go?" Misao asked looking back where Ranma had been standing only to see he was gone.

"Ranma?!" Kiriko and Ami yelled into the gloom.

"Ca ... ca ... ca ... cat!" came a cry from the ceiling. The girls looked up and saw Ranma hanging from the wooden reinforcing crossbeams on the ceiling. He was looking down at them with a wide eyed expression of absolute terror.

Ryoko nearly doubled over with laughter. "Oh this is classic, the great and powerful boy who can use magic is scared shitless by a Cabbit!"

"Ranma-kun, this isn't a cat, she's a Cabbit." Sasami tried to explain.

"N ... not ... not a cat?" Ranma stuttered.

"They're chimera," Ami told him. "They were very popular as pets years ago but it turned out to be a fad so a lot of them ended up becoming homeless."

"Well, this one has a home now." Sasami said petting the little creature.

Ranma came down off the ceiling but didn't come much closer. "Are you sure its not a c .. c ... cat?"

"Yes," Kiriko replied.

"I'm going to call you Ryu-Ohki," Sasami held up the little Cabbit. Apparently she like the name, let out a cheery "Miya" and began wagging her little cotton ball tail.

"It sounds like a c .. c .. cat!" Ranma shouted from the ceiling again.

Ryoko ran her hand down her face, "Oh good grief!"

**oOOOo**

To be continued ...

Notes

Sorry for the long delay on this one. I'm trying to get my stories update as fast as I can but I don't have a lot of free time anymore. I won't be abandoning my stories though, as long as there are people to read them I will continue to update them.


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